32-Year-Old Dutch Mountaineer Dies in Fall on Mount Blanc Massif

On July 22, Martijn Seuren, a 32-year-old Dutch mountaineer, died after falling over 950 feet into a crevasse on the Italian side of the Mount Blanc massif.

“I am deeply saddened,” Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck wrote on his website. “He would have been the first Dutchman to climb all the 82 Four-Thousand [meter] peaks in the Alps.”

Steck was with Seuren and one other climber when Seuren fell on Rochefortgrat. The party was attempting to summit the Grandes Jorasses (4,208 meters) as part of Steck’s #82Summits project to climb all 82 peaks over 4,000 meters in the Alps—also a life-long goal of Seuren’s.

Seuren climbed his first 4,000-meter peak, Weismies, in Switzerland, in 2001. Since then, he has summited over 70 of the 82 4,000-meter peaks in the Alps, including all 48 in Switzerland and a solo ascent of the Lauteraarhorn (4,042 meters). Worldwide, he has climbed over 120 mountains over 4,000 meters.

“I want to express my deepest condolences to Martjin’s family and friends,” Steck wrote. “Out of consideration for the family I won’t add further comment on this tragic event, and I ask you all to respect this as well.”